Welcome to our October Newsletter.
Firstly, a reminder that our 2023 Short Story Competition is open for entries but will be closing 31 October, see below for all details.
We are halfway through our 4-Week Unlocking Creativity Online course and it is always inspiring to see the growth in everyone’s confidence and the increasing boldness of everyone’s creativity.
The course reveals that everyone can write in a way that makes other people want to read what they’ve written when they access the power of their imagination.
Writing is an act of discovery
Writing your novel or screenplay or even a short story requires you dive into the land of uncertainty. You are forced to dig deep, surrender to the creative journey, trust the process and keep moving forward one step at a time until you reach the end.
In The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks & Win Your Inner Creative Battles, Stephen Pressfield writes, “The most important thing about art is to work. Nothing else matters except sitting down every day and trying. The professional has learned that success, like happiness, comes as a by-product of work.”
Screenwriter, Matt Bird concurs, “That’s the reality of writing. It doesn’t spring from your genius fully formed – you cobble it into shape with a lot of sweat and elbow grease. Writing is a process of trial and error, trial and error, trial and error until you get it right. Of course talent can be taught. Every writer learns to write. Nobody relies on natural talent.”
Excellence is a commitment to completion.
The Writers’ Studio
wstudio@writerstudio.com.au
Genre Short Story Course Starting 30 October
Join us in our upcoming 6-Week Genre Short Story online course commencing 30 October. This is the final Short Story course for 2023.
Understanding genre isn’t just critical to marketing your story. Genres are systems for expressing certain themes and strategies of storytelling that create drama and deliver a meaningful emotional experience to your reader.
“Thanks so much for yet another wonderful and very enlightening course. I have to admit I wasn’t all that interested in the genre topics when I first read them, but after digging deep and doing all the easy-to-follow steps I really surprised myself. I always thought ‘I can’t do fiction, I can’t write comedy’, and how wrong I was. It was so much fun to break through boundaries and preconceptions and discover I could write in genres I would never have attempted solo.” Nicola
The Power of Guidance and Feedback
Last week we had both a First Draft Online and Second Draft Online course book out and commence, and we had long waitlists for both courses.
It is always heartbreaking to read emails from disappointed writers who left it until the last minute and missed out on the chance to pursue their creative goals with us.
The main reason the numbers in our courses are capped is also one of our greatest assets: our tutors.
Each tutor has been handpicked for their instinct for telling meaningful and engaging stories and their keen understanding of the craft.
The course materials provide the solid foundation and tools for writing stories, and it is the tutors and the invaluable feedback they give their writers that shapes the success of their stories. As Steven D Levitt says, “The key to learning is feedback. It is nearly impossible to learn anything without it.”
Every tutor is trained in our unique approach and one of the things we are most proud of at the Writers’ Studio is the individual care and attention they give our writers.
We set our course caps months out to ensure that every writer has the support and attention they need to write their best story (and have fun doing it!)
If you’re interested in joining a course, we suggest you register sooner rather than later to reserve your place. For our Second and Third Draft courses, this will also allow you time to complete important pre-course work well ahead of the start date.
As always, our team is here to answer any questions you have.
We look forward to helping you bring your story to life!
The Writers’ Studio 2023 Short Story Competition
Our 2023 Short Story Competition is now open!
First Prize $500 / Second Prize $250 / Third Prize $100
Winners will be announced in our December Newsletter & published on our website.
Competition closes 5pm AEST 31 October 2023.
Get writing, and good luck!
Recent Course Feedback
Some snippets of the wonderful feedback that we receive back from recently completed courses. We update these in each newsletter. They show what a large variety of writers get out of our writing courses.
“I learned so much through the Unlocking Creativity Course at the Writers Studio. I was taught how to really engage a reader through descriptions that would enable them to see and feel what I was hoping to convey. I also learned how to structure a story so that a character goes on a journey, and how to bring emotion into the writing. It was so much more than I had hoped for, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.” Natalie, Unlocking Creativity Online
“I thought this course could teach me how to write more consistently, and it did, but not in the way I thought. I thought it would open me up to find a story and a practice. It gave me much more than that. It returned a lightness to me. Something I’ve not had since I was younger. I got rid of the strings and the seriousness that have tied me down as I’ve got older. Strings that I had tied myself probably. But over the last four weeks I’ve loosened those, and now I want to write for enjoyment.” Isabella, Unlocking Creativity Live
“It has given me the tools and the structure to take my writing ambitions seriously, and not discount them… The course has enabled me to let go of my self-judgement and not expect to write a masterpiece the first time around. It will be hard work but the payoff far outweighs the effort.” Lampros, Unlocking Creativity Live
“I have completed my second course with the Writers Studio, it is called Short Story Genre. It has been a great journey that has confirmed for me how much I love to write. It is therapeutic and allows me to find that kid inside that used to build cubbies, make up characters and act out imaginary story lines. Such a relief and release from the perfunctory world of the adult.”Sandra, Genre Short Story
“My writing has improved more during this course than it has during any other time in my life. As a direct result of the Third Draft process, my scenes are more clear and engaging. I know how to show instead of tell (even if I don’t always do it) and I feel confident to move the story forward.” Sarah, Third Draft Live
“The Writers’ Studio inspired me to become a writer. I hardly recognise myself today from the scared little artist I was five years ago. I’m so glad that I found you on the internet in 2018. I have learned so much more from you and the many tutors who have given me feedback on my writing than in all the previous decades when I tried to learn how to write stories by using books I borrowed in the library. It is definitely feedback that has motivated me to keep going. I hope one day to come back to the Writers’ Studio to have another go.” Rosa, Third Draft Part 2 Online
Upcoming Courses
4-Week Unlocking Creativity
Whether you are a complete beginner, a professional writer or somewhere in-between, this is the first step towards achieving your writing goals, whatever they are. This introductory writing course will give you essential tools and techniques to unlock the power of your imagination and dramatically improve the quality of your writing.
8 November: Unlocking Creativity – ONLINE Final Online course for 2023
12 October: Unlocking Creativity – LIVE 2 spots left!
10-Month Novel & Script First Draft
If your dream is to write a novel or screenplay our first draft course will get you doing it. You don’t need to have a clear idea for a story to start. The course’s step-by-step process begins by helping you find and clarify the key characters and story in a broad outline before embarking on writing your actual first draft.
4 March 2024: Novel & Script First Draft – ONLINE
9 March 2024: Novel & Script First Draft – LIVE
6-Week Short Story Course Online
Our Short Story courses are ideal for writers who have completed Unlocking Creativity and want to continue with their creative journey.
If you do the work and implement the tools and techniques you will be amazed at how much your writing and story-telling ability develops. These courses will also prepare you for the 10 Month First Draft course should you want to do that down the track. Receive targeted feedback on every piece you post.
30 October: Short Story Genre – ONLINE Final Short Story course for 2023
8-Month Second Draft
The First Draft is where you find the possibilities of your story. The Second Draft writing course is the pivot draft where you focus on making your story come alive and work for your reader.
18 March 2024: Second Draft – ONLINE
4 February 2024: Second Draft – LIVE Waitlist only
7-Month Third Draft
You have found the dramatic spine of your story in The Second Draft. The Third Draft is where all the hard work you have put into finding, developing, clarifying and structuring your story in the First and Second Drafts dramatically pays off.
5 February 2024: Third Draft – ONLINE
28 October: Third Draft – LIVE
12-Month Live & 10-Month Online Third Draft Part Two
By following the course process, learning advanced tools and techniques and giving and receiving feedback enables everyone to take their writing and story to another level. ‘The voice of each writer is much clearer and confident; there is a sense of finding and settling down with the voice.
6 November: Third Draft Part Two – ONLINE
TBA August 2024: Third Draft Part Two – LIVE